Microsoft is going to shut down the Xbox Entertainment Studios in Santa Monica. That particular branch employees roughly 200 employees w ho will soon be looking for new jobs in the coming months. This particular studio has been a key component of Microsoft's ongoing vision for the Xbox by attempting to pull in entertainment options that could only be watched through the Xbox platform.
Microsoft has moved away from positioning the Xbox One as an all-in-one entertainment system — a message that appeared to alienate gamers who are the most likely first buyers of a new game system. At this year’s E3 game industry trade show in Los Angeles, it was all about the games.
That raised questions about the fate of the Xbox Entertainment Studios, which merited nary a mention at the high-profile industry event. One of its first original shows, the soccer-themed reality show “Every Street United,” debuted June 15 to little notice.
Xbox Entertainment Studios will gradually wind down, with the studio continuing work on projects that are currently in production, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
That raised questions about the fate of the Xbox Entertainment Studios, which merited nary a mention at the high-profile industry event. One of its first original shows, the soccer-themed reality show “Every Street United,” debuted June 15 to little notice.
Xbox Entertainment Studios will gradually wind down, with the studio continuing work on projects that are currently in production, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
The Halo series that was talked up a while back is still apparently in the works.
Phil Spencer did confirm the closure of the Xbox Entertainment branch.
As part of the planned reduction to our overall workforce announced today and in light of our organization’s mission, we plan to streamline a handful of portfolio and engineering development efforts across Xbox. One such plan is that, in the coming months, we expect to close Xbox Entertainment Studios. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the accomplishments from the entire team in XES. They have built an impressive slate of original programming and pioneered interactive entertainment on Xbox, such as the innovative reality series ‘Every Street United’ that succeeded in uniting audiences around the globe during the recent World Cup. I am pleased that Nancy, Jordan and members of the XES team remain committed to new, original programming already in production like the upcoming documentary series ‘Signal to Noise’ whose first installment takes on the rise and fall of gaming icon Atari and of course, the upcoming game franchise series ‘Halo: Nightfall,’ and the ‘Halo’ Television series which will continue as planned with 343 Industries. Xbox will continue to support and deliver interactive sports content like ‘NFL on Xbox,’ and we will continue to enhance our entertainment offering on console by innovating the TV experience through the monthly console updates. Additionally, our app partnerships with world-class content providers bringing entertainment, sports and TV content to Xbox customers around the world are not impacted by this organizational change in any way and remain an important component of our Xbox strategy.
Change is never easy, but I believe the changes announced today help us better align with our long-term goals. We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us to define what the next generation of gaming looks like for the growing Xbox community. I have a great deal of confidence in this team and know that with clarity of focus on our mission and our customers we can accomplish great things together. We already have.
Change is never easy, but I believe the changes announced today help us better align with our long-term goals. We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us to define what the next generation of gaming looks like for the growing Xbox community. I have a great deal of confidence in this team and know that with clarity of focus on our mission and our customers we can accomplish great things together. We already have.
These are some very interesting and sad times at Microsoft.
(via Recode)